I hope this works out, my old computer died and my husband got me a MacBook for Christmas and I have not a clue what I'm doing it with. I had to copy and paste this because I can't figure out how to upload the file from pages so I hope the formatting doesn't get messed up.

Chapter 29

Part 2

"It's pretty awesome isn't it?"

Paul watched as Angela's mouth worked, deciding what she was going to say before looking at him, "This is what has been keeping you busy?"

"Yeah, this and something else but I'll tell you about the other later."

"You're building this?"

Paul shrugged then took her hand and started pulling her toward the log shell of a huge structure, "Not just me, the guys, my dad too."

"Who in Forks has this much money?"

"The company's not from Forks, the owner of the logging company my dad worked for knows a guy, anyway his wife always wanted to start a B&B. My dad's boss bitched about it enough while he was around so he said something. The guy told my dad since he knew the place so well to handle it. Before my dad got into logging when I was a little kid he was part of a construction crew, so he kind of knows the ins and outs of how things work. Dad showed the guy and his wife this piece, she bought it on the spot, told my dad she wanted a huge log cabin and the rest is history. The deal has been in the works for the better part of a year and the asshole just tells me a week after you left. He's got all of us working with a crew the guy brought down from Seattle, said after this one is done we should know enough to make a crew of our own with my dad being the foreman, wants us to start a crew down here, get more businesses."

"Paul, that's great" Angela whooped throwing her arms around his neck.

"It's not too bad."

"Oh please, this is awesome, and its huge! I can't believe something like this is going in around here."

"It's about time if you ask me, this will bring a lot of jobs to the rez. The boss lady comes down a lot checking things out, she's already talked to Billy and the Tribal Council about holding a job fair and possibly only hiring people from the rez depending on how many employees she's going to need and experience of course. She already offered Emily a cooking position after tasting her muffins at a council meeting."

Angela's eyes grew wide, "She didn't tell me that!"

Laughing Paul pulled her closer to the structure, "She didn't want to spoil my news."

~U~

Paul watched as Angela walked cautiously running her hands over the hand hewn beams, "How many rooms is it going to have?"

"There are going to be three rooms over here," Paul said waving his hand to the left; "those are going to be handicap accessible. The front desk is going to be off to the side here so it's not in front of the staircase, to the right there's going to be a dining room, small sitting area; a solarium and the kitchen is going to be in the back out of sight. Upstairs there are going to be four rooms on each side of the staircase. Not too many but she wants all of the rooms to be like suits with their own whirlpool tubs, and small kitchenette not enough to keep guests from coming down for meals but big enough for them to be comfortable."

"This place is going to be fancy."

"Yeah it kind of has people worried about actually drawing in guests because we are in the middle of no where, but apparently this woman has more money than she knows what to do with and the same goes for her rich friends who want a little culture in their lives," Paul snorted while rolling his eyes. She'll probably just turn it in to a vacation home if it goes bust."

After showing Angela around the property and telling her the plans for the garden and barn Paul led her back toward his truck, "You want to head over to Emily's or you want me to take you home?"

Angela didn't miss how Paul's hand tightened on her own when he asked her if he wanted to go back to her parents, with a gentle smile Angela dropped his hand and popped the door on the truck, "Lets go to Emily's."

~U~

"So have you decided if you are going to tell her yet."

Rolling his eyes Paul turned toward Jared who just plopped down beside him on the couch, "You can't stay off my ass about it for two seconds can you?"

"Well, the reason you didn't want to tell her before was because you thought you would be trapping her, when we sort of got that figured out it was because you didn't like the situation that you were in, now everything seems pretty good."

Paul snorted again bringing a can of Coke to his lips, "Pretty good huh. So you're saying that if I wanted to start up patrols again no one would give me shit about that?"

With that Jake and Sam's heads snapped in his direction and Paul let out a grunt, "Well that answers that doesn't it now."

Jared knocked into him gaining his attention, "Listen Paul if it were up to me you'd be out there already. I don't really know what their deal is, if they don't want you out there or if they're doing it because it's what the council wants, that really has nothing to do with telling Angela about us."

Paul watched as both Sam and Jake's eyes narrowed at Jared's words, thankful Paul schooled his temper so he wouldn't snap at his friend, "You don't think so huh; well let's see now, if my own pack doesn't trust me in wolf form then why the hell should I trust myself around my imprint? I mean look at them Jared they're watching me like a hawk even now."

At that two low growls filtered across the room and Paul gave the finger to Sam; because he could do that kind of thing now but only managed a glare at Jake. Annoyed Paul turned his attention back toward Jared, "I think about telling her all the time man, but I still wonder, worry, if she would drop everything and come back here to this place."

"So what if she did man, that would be her choice."

"It would be the wrong one."

"Why"

"Fuck dude how many times do I have to go through this with you."

"Listen you have a job, two of them actually and as much as you don't want to admit it they are stable and you're saving money you tight ass. You are in control of your wolf no matter what anyone else thinks," Jared huffed a breath at another set of growls, "there is no reason why you shouldn't tell her while she's here. I honestly don't think she'd drop out of school even if you did."

And that was the fucking problem wasn't it? If his imprint wouldn't give up school to come back and be with him, then what the hell kind of bond did they have? At the thought Paul gripped the can a little to tight crushing it under his fist, what an asshole he was, he didn't want Angela to give up shit for him but the thought of her not doing it hurt and pissed him off too. So he was fucking stuck and unsure as if Jared would understand or not.

"I don't know man I'll think about it."

Rolling his eyes Jared uncurled his body from the couch making sure to jostle Paul as he did so and walked away.

~U~

"What the hell are you doing sitting out here when your girl is in there?"

Paul shook his head downing the rest of the beer that had done nothing for him and chucked the can at his dad's feet.

Blake took a seat on a stump across the fire from Paul, "Well?"

"Got a lot of shit to think about, don't want to bother her."

"What is it?"

"Shit I can't talk to you about."

"Tribe shit?"

Whenever Blake had a question that Paul couldn't answer that would be his go to answer. As much as it annoyed Blake he'd never pushed Paul to answer his questions and he was thankful for that.

"Try to break it down for me in a way that it's not going to interfere with Tribe Shit then."

Paul looked up from the fire locking eyes with his dad, "It's Angela."

Blake nodded and leaned forward planting his elbows on his knees much like Paul, "It usually is."

Chuckling Paul stood swiftly and began to pace, agitated that for once he couldn't actually talk to his dad when he really would have liked to.

Blake sat back watching and waiting until Paul stopped and turned toward him, "Did you really make her stay here?"

Paul watched as Blake's body went ramrod straight and a curse slipped from his lips, "You think me telling you this shit is going to help?"

"Possibly"

Blake groaned again while scratching at the back of his neck, "I loved your mother, but I was young, I loved me and my shit more. I told her after you were born that if she didn't stay here with me then I would make the council find a way to keep you here even if she left."

Paul stood watching as his dad stared into the fire a pained expression on his face, "I wouldn't have done that to her though, but she was always on my ass about moving out of here and as much as you hate it, Paul I loved it. I grew up here, all my buddies were here, I had a good job back then and I hated the fucking city more than anything. She wanted to move to be closer to her family that had left and I wanted no part of it. I didn't get along with those assholes while they lived here I sure as hell wasn't going to get along with them in a fucking place I wanted no part of. So I told her that and got my way for a while. The longer time went on the more I fell in love with her even though she started to hate me for keeping her here in this place. When things got bumpy with the job she started really nagging at me about it but I didn't care, I continued on what I was doing and so did she. Things got messy with us even before we left the rez. Then one night she confronted me about something and when I told her the truth she just lost it. I'd never seen your mother cry like that. It really messed with me so I finally agreed to leave with her, solve the problem; well it obviously didn't work out, but she decided that she liked living the good life out there so much that when shit got hard with us again she left. Didn't really give us a chance to figure shit out."

"What made it not work out?"

"I started to resent her because I didn't want to leave in the first place, I didn't know anyone because her asshole family and the job I had paid good but was shit, I hated it. Every night I'd come home and she'd be there with her cousins and they'd give me shit. We had a big fight one night and I told her I didn't want them coming over to the house any more and that's when you're mom started going out. At first it taking you over to her cousins house every night, then it got to the point where she'd wait until I got home to leave and do whatever it was she was doing. Your mom and I drifted apart."

Paul watched as his dad swallowed thickly.

"We both did things that we regretted but for some reason we were both too stubborn to leave. She left after she found out something that her stubbornness couldn't out weigh I guess. As much as I hated that place I hated myself more for hurting her so bad that she'd give you up."

Paul knew the answer to the question before he even asked but he couldn't stop the words from coming, "What did you do?"

"We son, we did it."

"Well," Paul asked his hands balled into fists.

"I got a girl pregnant, that's what I did." Blake sat up straight staring Paul in the eyes, "I got her pregnant, and then refused to tell her to have an abortion when your mother told me that's how I needed to handle it, then I fought her on leaving the rez for a while until I gave in."

Paul's eyes shot wide and he sat down with a curse, "Did the girl get rid of it."

Blake threw his head back, "She told me she did, I didn't ask her to do it but she said she did. I didn't know any different until a couple of years after we moved, which was the deal breaker for your mom."

"What did my mom do?"

"Besides asking me to kill a baby and getting pissed when I told her the truth years later?"

"Yes"

"Paul we had been unhappy for a while, I never caught her cheating and I never asked but I'm smart enough to know when a woman is going elsewhere, your mom was."

"So she cheated on you because you cheated on her while you still lived here; did you keep on when you moved?"

"That shit doesn't matter Paul, we both knew what the other was doing, or had done we lived with it, until you mom found out that the woman didn't get rid of the baby. We never should have stayed together that long in the first place, fought around you too damn much."

"So then why were you so torn up about it when she left?"

"I didn't really know what to do. I had a kid I didn't know how to raise, your mom and I got together right out of high school and she basically took care of everything. On top of all of that shit I hated that I hurt her, I really did but I let the resentment I felt for everything get the better of me, let it warp my way of thinking. Then there was the other baby, the woman was so fucking broken when she told me what she'd done. Not only had I fucked your mom over the way I did but I did it to this woman too. I didn't offer her anything even though I had started to care for her, I just treated her like shit too when she told me the news. When I came home that night and she wasn't there and then didn't come back I was scared shitless. How the hell was I going to work and raise you and live with the fact that I'd done what I did to two women that I loved?"

"You think it would have been different if you would have just went with her after she had me, not even gotten to the point of cheating?"

"I doubt it, look Paul there is something about this place that calls to me. It sounds stupid but I know that I belong here. I knew it before I left, the fact that your mother didn't seem to care and my refusal to let her go is where it all went wrong. I should have left then, before I slept around, before everything got fucked up. The whole time I lived out there it was like my skin would crawl, I fucking hated every minute of it. I think at some point it would have ended up with me back here and her out there, all of the other shit may not have happened but I don't think anything would have kept us together."

"I never said I wanted out of this place," Paul whispered looking at his dad.

"But you hate it."

"I don't hate it, I hate things about it."

"Tribe Shit?"

"Tribe Shit," Paul agreed nodding his head.

"So what is the issue if you don't hate this place like you lead people to believe?"

"The issue is, is that I won't leave this place either and I know that Angela is better than this place."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"No, I don't want to make her feel like she has to stay here to be with me."

"But she does though."

"She does," Paul agreed.

"Why is she better than this place?"

Paul snorted and looked at his dad, "You don't think she is?"

"I don't think anyone is better than anything. I think Angela is a nice girl, the rez isn't so bad, it's not too far from more populated areas when she could get a good job, it's a good place to raise kids, and you got all kinds of family here son, what's so bad about it?"

"She didn't hesitate to run off to the big city either."

Paul watched as Blake nodded his head, "She seemed pretty damn hesitant to me when she came to me the night before she left talking about not leaving."

Paul's snapped up his body shaking, "What; she talked to you about not leaving?"

A smile slid across Blake's face, "That girl was going to give up going to school for you son, I wanted to know her reasoning behind it."

When Paul took a step forward his dad raised his hands, "now just you wait a minute, you

need to listen to the shit I have to say."

After a curt nod Blake continued on, "She was pretty upset talking nonsense about staying here for a whole lot of wrong reasons. I didn't talk her out of it because I think she's better for this place, for you. I talked her out of it because that girl needed a break. I don't know her all that well but from what she told me, and those damn gossips in Fork's that girl has been a momma to her younger brothers since the came around. She seems to not mind it but, damn she's young Paul. She needed to be on her own, do her own thing. Seeing her the other day, I could tell she's made up her mind, and the damn city ain't it."

"How do you know?"

"She has the same look that your mom had when she decided what she really wanted. The thing is your mom held on to what she thought she wanted with me for too long. Your girl doesn't seem like the type to let something hold her that long. I think all this shit going in your head needs to get out, and it needs to be said before she leaves here in a couple of days. Your girl needs to know that you want her here to make you happy just as much as you want her to be happy, period." With that Blake stood and made a move toward the trees.

"Hey," Paul yelled.

Blake turned around his face hidden from the fire light.

"You ever going to tell me about the kid?" Paul watched as Blake shifted on his feet then slammed his hands into the pocket of his pants.

"I'll tell you everything I know when you figure shit out with your, girl; me telling you about a kid that doesn't even know who his father is, isn't that damn important."

Blake turned to leave again but stopped when Paul called his name.

"You know who the kid is don't you?" Paul watched as Blake nodded his head yes then walked into the woods.

~U~

Paul sat watching as the fire burned down to embers before making his way slowly back into the house. Angela was curled up in the middle of the bed wearing one of his threadbare t-shirts, cuddling one of his pillows. Slowly Paul pulled the pillow out of her grasp and shuffled her around until it was him that she was cuddling on. As he lay awake slowly stroking the smooth skin of her arm he decided that he was going to tell her; sooner rather than later.